Point Loma residents Glory Giffin and Julie Anderson won awards at the San Diego Watercolor Society monthly show in January. The show’s juror was Luis Llarina.

Giffin was awarded first place for her painting “Feeding Frenzy,” which depicts albacore tuna and sheephead feeding on a bait ball. It is painted on a navigation chart, which was prepared by gluing it to formcore and coating it with gesso to allow the application of watercolor.

Llarina said that Giffin’s use ofa chart made for an imaginative surface and that the contrast of form and texture created a strong piece.

Giffin, whose husband had a sportfishing boat in Point Loma, possesses his vast collection of charts to experiment on and finally developed the technique that worked for watercolor. Most of her work is by commission to fishermen.

Anderson was awarded Best Mini for her painting “Outsider.”

Llorina said Anderson’s strong design and composition made for an award-winning painting.

Anderson said she enjoys telling stories about people with her art and always carries a camera with her. The scene is from the Chalk Festival in Little Italy a few years ago. She said she noticed a group of people chatting and one other person who seemed to be alone in the crowd. Anderson’s painting, done with ink and watercolor on tracing paper affixed to watercolor paper, is the story of that social separation. Julie is also a member of the Point Loma Artists, and her work can be seen at www.pointlomaartists.com.

The San Diego Watercolor Society is dedicated to expanding the appreciation of watermedia painting through education, exhibition and promotion. SDWS presents a new juried exhibition each month, with an evening opening reception on the first Friday of each month. In this show, members were allowed to paint on experimental surfaces.